Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area and Tarrant County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's estimate, the city had a population of almost 374,000 at the end of 2011, making it the third largest municipality in the metropolitan area. Arlington is the fiftieth most populous city in the United States and the seventh most populous city in the state of Texas; it is also the largest city in the state that is not a county seat.

History

European settlement in the Arlington area dates back at least to the 1840s. After the May 24, 1841 battle between Texas General Edward H. Tarrant (Tarrant County is named after him) and Native Americans of the Village Creek settlement, a trading post was established at Marrow Bone Spring in present-day Arlington (historical marker at ). The rich soil of the area attracted farmers, and several agriculture-related businesses were well established by the late nineteenth century.

Cathy Brown of The Dallas Morning News said in 1998 that "In addition, since Arlington's shirt collar is getting bluer, the flavor of the entire city is changing. The North Central Texas area now has Colleyville, Southlake, Grapevine to be what Arlington used to be. The decisions which produced the fade to blue were made too long ago for any of us today to alter."

Arlington is the largest city in the world without a fixed bus-route, light-rail or commuter train system of mass transit.